18x10 - 1965 Barracuda Part 2

[bunniefuu]

This time, we're out to
celebrate the brilliance

of the supercharger with a
game-changing German sports car.

Do you want to see the engine?

I think you're going to like this bit.

But it's covered in more mods
than a 1960s Brighton Sea Front.

Alright, so it's modified
on the outside, it's

modified under here, what
about the inside of the car?

Guess what?

It's been modified.

This car screams out to
be brought back to factory

standard, but it's going to
take a lot of Wheeler-dealering.

What I need is a G60 parcel shelf.

Oh, the holy grail?

Yeah.

And a lot of Elvis magic.

But there is a risk that
there's damage inside

here which would
condemn it to the scrap heap.

So have we got what it takes to
turn this modern classic around?

Absolutely nothing at all there.

I am now a little bit
confused, a little bit stumped.

Or will we be left looking
like a couple of spare parts?

Oh, it just wants a go, go, go, go, go.

I'm Mike Brewer.

Oh.

And I've been buying and
selling cars for nearly 40 years.

It's rattly, smelly, and
it's blooming brilliant.

Now I've set up a shop in Britain's
Motoring Heritage Heartland.

Oh, yes!

Along with ex-Formula 1
mechanic, Mark Elvis Priestley.

So that engine management
light never put you off then?

Together we get to buy.

Top man.

And fix up.

Look at the state of it.

It's got a spirit of
ecstasy and everything.

The most iconic and
exciting cars on the market.

Oh mate, I love these things.

I've just given it another little… whoa!

It's a fast car.

With Elvis' engineering skill.

And there it is, the offending article.

And my car-dealing clout.

He's going to be over the moon, isn't he?

Elvis better get the posh tools ready.

We should be able to
make ourselves a tidy profit.

This is my job and I bloomin' love it.

There you go, mate.

Lovely.

Have you always been tea over coffee?

Always been tea, yeah.

It's like asking me whether I
prefer turbo over supercharger.

In fact, what is it?

Do you prefer turbos or superchargers?

It's both, isn't it?

They've both got their
merits, haven't they?

For me, it would be
the supercharger, I think,

because I like that
instant response away from

the line, which you
don't get with a turbo.

You've got the lag.

And being that the supercharger
seems to be making a comeback recently,

I've actually had my eyes on one.

It's actually a car from your era.

What, like 80s, 90s?



You know, when you were roaming
around with your shell tracksuit,

your Soul Boy haircut, your
nice clean white trainers.

So 80s, 90s, and it's got a supercharger?

Yes.

Well, it's got to be, is it a Corrado?

It's a Corrado G60.

Oh, nice.

You have a great car, mate.

Probably VW's first foray into
an out-and-out sports car, really.

Yeah, it was to compete against the likes

of the Porsche 944, yeah,
so it was a proper sports car.

OK, so you don't mind me going to see it?

Do it, mate.

I'd be very happy to play
around with a supercharger.

Nice one.

Launched in 1988 as a sports coupe
to compete with BMW and Porsche,

the Corrado stood on the shoulders
of VW giants, the Scirocco and Golf.

Originally fitted with a 1.8 litre,

the G60 supercharged version
is the one we've got the hots for,

because it packed a real punch
when you buried the accelerator.

VW only built the G60 for five years,

and the rise of the boy racer
scene in the 80s and 90s

meant most of them were covered
with modifications and thrashed to death.

Today, there are less
than 200 left on UK roads,

and factory standard ones,
which haven't been modified,

are rarer than the HENS team.

So the one that I've managed to
find belongs to a guy called Matt.

Now, it's fair to say
Matt's car is of a style.

Basically, he's slammed it to the
ground, put great big wheels on it,

and he's lowered it to a point
where it almost looks like, to me,

that it might be undriveable.

But I can see through all of
that, and I can see the other side.

If he was to make the car a bit more stock,

and I've got Elvis in the
workshop and could do all of that,

then we could end up with
a car that is really saleable.

Yes!

I love the colour.

Ah, you must be Matt.

Hi, Mike, nice to meet you.

Matt, really nice to meet you.

Thank you for letting me come round
and see your lovely-looking chrono.

Paintwork looks exceptional.

Thank you, yeah, it was re-sprayed
about three years ago, actually.

And unfortunately, after that, I
actually just put it in the garage.

What, you've not driven it since?

Basically, yeah.

OK.

What's going on with the wheels and tyres?

It's got a really funny camber to it,
and the tyres look like they're too small.

They're stretched, look, Mike.

Is that a thing?

It's a thing, yeah.

The stretched look is a thing, I
guess, because you can run it low,

and the tyre disappears into
the arch, and it doesn't rub.

But you can have a wide wheel with it.

All right, well, listen,
I've come round to see it.

Do you mind if I start on the inside?

I hope so.

Right, here we go.

OK, carbon interior.

Absolutely, yeah.

Which is good.

I can see problems already, though.

The seats, that's ripped and torn.

Yeah, yeah, well, that's 190,000 miles
worth of getting in and out of the car.

Yeah, well, that's going to need repairing.

I've never seen one of these before, a
boost Gauge, that's not standard, is it?

It's a boost Gauge for the supercharger.

The whole vent is also part of the Gauge.

Right, OK.

But I've got the original in the boot.

It's got an aftermarket
steering wheel as well.

And I don't remember ever seeing in the
parts catalog an eighth ball as a gear knob.

No, no, that fell off the table.

Did it?

Made its way straight to the car.

Straight in the car.

All right, so does everything work in here?

No.

That's good.

Let's go through them then.

Electric windows?

Yeah, they work, yeah.

They work.

Rear spoiler?

No, it doesn't work.

Right, let's have a look at the engine.

Right, so what's been done underneath here?

So the supercharger has been
ported, so it allows bare airflow.

It's also got a smaller
pulley on the supercharger.

So it spins faster?

Absolutely, yeah.

And the block would have
originally been a 1.8, it's now a 1.9.

But what's it like horsepower now?

So about 240 over the 160.

It's going to go like the clappers.

Well, listen, sounds great.

I mean, is there any
chance I can try it,

get it up the road and
see what it goes like?

Yeah, absolutely.

Hope you're safe, Mike.

Lovely.

Volkswagen had a
trick to play, didn't they?

They had the brilliant Volkswagen Golf GTI.

Then they followed
that up with the Scirocco.

And then how do you beat those
two cars, which were great little cars?

Well, you follow it up with
this, which is the Corrado.

And with this one, you bolt a
supercharger to it, the G60, the G Lada,

and you end up with a car that does this.

It's kind of terrifying to me.

It's like holding on to a wild beast.

But you can see the suspension
is savagely compromised.

So I need to think about
what we're going to do

with the suspension system
and the wheels and tires.

If I was to buy it, that
boot spoiler should pop up

automatically and there's
nothing happening behind me.

So, yeah, I mean, nothing
seems to be working properly.

Fog lamps are missing,
the interior's tatty.

He wants eight grand for it.

£8,000.

I think he's being really cheeky.

I think my target for this
car would be around £6,500.

But if we was to buy
this car, adore the jobs,

these are what they consider
today to be a proper modern classic.

And it has a marketplace out there.

I'll have to go back, reason with
Matt and see if I can work my magic.

How do I go, Mike?

I'll tell you what, it's
low, this car, isn't it?

I mean, it's fast.

The engine is strong and powerful.

It's fast.

But my God, it rattles
your teeth, doesn't it?

It does, yeah, yeah.

The reason you've not sold this car

is because you've
individualized it so much for you.

It's going to be very hard to find
another you out there looking for one.

Absolutely, yeah.

And that's why you haven't sold it.

You asked nine grand for it.

I kept an eye on it.

And then you reduced it down to eight.

How about £6,500?

No, I still think it's worth
more than that, Mike.

£6,500, you won't take it?

No.

Well, the paintwork is
good, £6,750, but that's it.

Hold out your hand.

Got yourself a deal.

Well done, mate.

Thank you.

Nice one.

And I've just bought a Corrado G60.

Elvis is going to k*ll me.

Elvis is going to have his
work cut out for him with this one

because we've got a car that's
literally been reversed into a parts store.

I'm hoping, because I know
he loves a 1990s hot classic,

I'm just hoping that
he sees beyond all that,

we just need to get it right.

And I know I can get it sold.

Oh, mate.

And when I love a Corrado,
I'm not sure that's still

a Corrado, all these things
that have been done to it.

Yeah, the guy definitely backed it
into the accessory shop, didn't he?

He went for the aftermarket
wheels, which aren't for me.

Skinny tyres, aftermarket suspension,
aftermarket exhaust system.

I mean, it's aftermarket
everywhere, but look at the paint job.

Yeah, the paintwork
actually is really nice, isn't it?

It looks lovely.

I mean, underneath all
that, these cars are great.

G60 is a wonderful car.

I mean, what are the
problems this one's got?

I imagine it's got some.

Yes.

That's why I bought it.

Hopefully, you can fix them.

Right, this is one of the first mass-produced
cars with an active rear spoiler.

At certain speeds, it pops up.

Well, why is that a problem then?

Is it no longer active?

It's on strike, yes.

It's non-active rear spoiler.

That's what we got.

So that needs to be sorted out.

In the boot, there's a bounty of accessories
that come with... Hang on, hang on.

Forget those for a minute.

Look at that.

The aftermarket mods continued
into the parcel shelf, didn't they?

If only people knew how valuable these
parcel shelves would be in the future,

nobody would have done it.

Do you want to see the engine?

Of course I do.

I think you're going to like this bit.

Yes.

This is right in your wheelhouse.

It's got air induction.

It's been skimmed.

It's been re-bored to a 1.9 from a 1.8.

It's got well in excess of 200 horsepower,

way above what it was when
it came out of the factory.

That's amazing.

That all sounds good.

Yeah, except for one
glaringly obvious item.

You're going to tell
me it's a supercharger.

Of course it's a supercharger.

I thought we were going
to get away with that.

No, you know when they released these cars,

they said that the supercharger
won't need a lot of servicing.

It turns out it needs a lot of servicing,

and there's no records of
this one ever being serviced.

I mean, look, I can get
it off the car, strip it down

and have a look, and
we'll have to go from there.

Lovely.

All right, so it's modified on the outside.

It's modified under here.

What about the inside of the car?

Guess what?

It's been modified.

Mate, come and have a look at this.

It's got the rare Karman interior.

It has got a tear in the
bolster of the driver's seat,

which we'll have to repair.

Aftermarket steering wheel, as I said.

What do you think of that gear knob?

Hideous.

It's a long list, mostly of bits
we've got to take off the car.

I think the one thing
I'm most worried about,

I guess, is the thing that
makes this car this car, and

that's that supercharger, which
could end up being expensive.

And on that note, how
much have you paid for it?

Well, I didn't think it was too bad.

I give 6,750.

Yeah, these are getting rarer and rarer,
so I think you've done quite well there.

I'm going to jump on the phone.

I'm going to sit up and
find all the bits we need.

In the meantime, familiarize
yourself with the car.

Now, the name Corrado actually
stems from the Spanish verb,

Correr, which in English
translates as to run,

and run it did.

It had a top speed of 140 miles an
hour and nought to 60 of 7.7 seconds.

That was proper sports
car territory back in the day.

We want to get our Corrado
looking the way it did then,

which means removing
the aftermarket wheels,

suspension, interior mods,
and adding back the fog lights.

But before I tackle any of those additions,

I need to do a crucial
service on this supercharger.

It hasn't been touched for over 60,000
miles, which means it's well overdue.

And if it goes wrong, it could
be catastrophic for this engine.

We've gone supercharged.

It's like holding on to a wild beast.

With this rare VW Corrado G60 that
has more mods than a specials gig.

But before I can tackle those,

I need to find out what condition
our 30-year-old supercharger is in.

Now, this G-Lada
supercharger is a scroll type

supercharger that VW had
high hopes for back in the day.

And they can actually last for
hundreds of thousands of miles

if well-maintained, but
the service schedule is low,

three years or 30,000 miles.

And this one hasn't been
touched for around 60,000 miles.

So it definitely needs doing.

A supercharger draws in and compresses air,

then forces it into the engine
where it mixes with more fuel,

delivering an instant boost of power.

They were originally
designed for use in aircraft

as a way to compensate for
lower air density at high altitude.

The technology was then adapted
and used in race cars in the 1920s.

Now, this is a bit of a moment
here because I've got to take it apart

and that's going to tell me exactly
what I've got to work with here.

I'm hoping, of course,
that it's serviceable,

that I can change things
like bearings, belts, seals,

and give it a new lease of life.

But there is a risk that
there's damage inside here,

which would condemn it to the scrap heap.

And if that's the case,
I've got a serious problem

in my hands because
you cannot buy new ones.

New old stock of these actually
ran out about five years ago.

And as it did, as stock numbers dwindled,

prices went through the roof and the
last remaining unit sold for about £4,000.

Well, that's two-thirds of
what we paid for this car.

So I need to keep my fingers
crossed and desperately

hope this one's in
pretty good condition.

Well, I've got good news.

In fact, I've got great news.

Two pieces, in fact.

Our supercharger is in great condition

and all the areas that might normally give
you cause for concern are absolutely fine.

The second thing is that though our car
is high mileage, around 200,000 miles,

this supercharger turns out that
it's nowhere near as old as that.

There's a little date stamp on the casting

that says October 1995
and our car's from 1992,

which tells me that this is way younger.

It's not the original supercharger
that came with the car

and that may be one of the reasons
that it's in such good condition.

Now, the way it works is this.

If I drop the scroll into the
middle here of the housing,

once those two pieces
are sat inside each other

like that and I turn
our pulley on the front,

what happens is as I turn that,

you can start to see there,

the scroll oscillates inside the housing

and with air coming in
through this port here,

it's then forced through these
channels and compressed.

As that oscillates, you
can see how it forces

it into a narrow channel
through this spiral.

As it's getting squeezed into
those channels, it speeds the air up

and as it spirals down
towards the center of the unit,

it gets passed from one
side through to the other

and out and into the engine
at high pressure and it's that

that gives us that boost and
therefore the increased power.

Although these superchargers are
now as rare as seeing oil on Mike's hands,

servicing kits are easy
to come by and cheap.

So I'm fitting new apex
seals and oil bearings

to make sure when
it's back up and running,

it's as tight as a drum.

Well, I could not be happier.

I've got a wonderful supercharger

with at least another 30,000
miles of great life left in it

and it only cost me 250 quid.

All I need to do is get it back in the car.

Right, when I need parts for a VW,

there's only one place to go
and that is the town of Oldbury

to go and see my mate Lee.

Now I've already spoke to him
about some of the bits that I need.

He's sourced me a set of
front seats for our Corrado G60.

I need some other bits as well,

like wheels for the car.

Plus there's a list of other things
like lights and bits of interior trim.

If I can come away with
one item on my shopping list,

then today would have been a win.

Lee makes a living customizing Volkswagen's
and recycling their parts into other cars.

His breaker's yard is like
an Aladdin's cave of wonder.

All right, now where's my buddy Lee?

There he is.

Lee, how are you, bud?

And you, mate?

Yeah, not bad at all.

Look at this, seats on display.

Told you I'd be ready.

I like this, but these
are not mine, surely,

because look, this has got a hole in it.

See, I mean, this is probably
just as bad as what I got.

Mark, I think you're missing the point.

Like, they are yours.

But it's not about this one, is it?

Look, this is a driver's
one that's always worn.

There's a passenger side.

You want to take the bolster out of this,

get your trimmer to transplant
it into your driver's seat.

Right, so I have to bite a
pair off, yeah, to get to that bit.

Yeah, so you use a pair of
seats to make a pair of seats.

Okay, well, a pair of seats it is.

Thank you very much.

You got the other bits for me?

You got a steering wheel?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

Well, that's the seats sorted.

But that sent me back 200 quid, and
I've only been here for five minutes.

Oh, mate, I see you've hoovered up for me.

This is nice.

Especially for you and mine.

So I need the correct one for a G60.

You need a three-spoke.

That's the right one for the car.

Lovely.

You've got a fog light filing cabinet.

Yeah, that's a pair.

Oh, so that is a pair.

Yeah.

Okay, yeah, lovely.

Let's take those.

That's seats, steering
wheel and fog light sorted.

Now it's time for the expensive stuff.

Wheel store.

Don't they look all right, don't they?

They look good.

Yeah, that's all we do.

In decent order.

Good set of tyres on them.

How much are they?

Well, they're dear.

Okay.

They're six to six fifty.

Wow.

I know.

Six hundred to six hundred and fifty
pounds for a set of second-hand wheels.

Blimey, this is racking
up, and I'm still not finished.

I need one more item, and you're
not going to like me saying this,

because it is an item that I
do believe is unobtainium.

You know what I'm going to ask for.

What I need, Lee, is an
unmolested G60 parcel shelf.

Don't do that.

Oh, the holy grail?

Yes.

Well, I suppose you're at
the right place, isn't you?

You haven't got one, have you?

Yeah.

Have you?

Seriously?

Yeah.

Where?

I'll go and grab it.

I love coming down here.

It's brilliant, isn't it?

He seems to have absolutely
everything I could wish for.

Is this what you want, Mike?

Is that for real?

Yeah.

Is that a proper one?

Yeah, it's a proper one.

Mate, that is fantastic.

Yes, bring that down.

Let's get in the warm and
work out a price for the lot, yeah?

Yeah, cool.

Top man.

Look at that.

What a result, but I've spent over a grand,

and there are still a
few more things I need.

Get the dust off my hands.

Look after it.

I'll get a speaker in here.

I'll get a speaker in
there, a couple of tweeters.

No, no, no, I'm only kidding.

I'm only kidding.

I will look after it, I promise you.

Lee, that is fantastic.

What a rare sight.

I'd like to sort of say
that's the end of it,

but I'm actually going to
leave you with another list.

Yeah, cool.

So if you can gather all that
stuff together, get it down to me.

Just send it down, yeah?

Send it down to me.

Mate, as ever, Lee.

Thanks, Mike.

I love coming here.

So much fun.

Thank you very much for looking after us.

Thank you.

Maybe there's a way I can
claw back some of this expense.

Lee's agreed to buy back some of
the parts we take off the Corrado.

Whilst I wait for Mike to
get back with my new parts,

I'm going to see if I can get to the bottom
of what's going on with our broken spoiler.

It should automatically lift up
when the car hits 55 miles an hour

to provide a bit of extra
downforce, but that isn't happening.

So I need to play
detective and find out why.

So what do we know?

Well, we know that the
spoiler operates mechanically

because I can use this manual
override switch to make it work.

Now, with that working,
it takes the mechanical

side of the equation
out of the picture,

leaving me with a more complex
electronic side of this system.

Right, down an electrical rabbit
hole we go to find the problem.

The first thread to follow is checking
the wiring behind the Gauge's binnacle

to see if everything's
working as it should.

And what I've done is taken
out the electronic control box

that sends a signal from here to the rear
wing to activate it at 55 miles an hour.

What I can do with the ignition on

is I can activate it using
the manual override switch.

And what I should
see if it's working are

these two little relays
opening and closing.

They're like big electronic switches.

If that happens, I know that this
particular component is working.

Okay, so the switch itself
is working as it should,

but let's see what happens
when I fire up the engine.

and get the car to 55 miles an hour.

Absolutely nothing at all there.

And what that tells me
is that although we're

getting a good signal
up to the speedo itself,

somewhere between that speedo
and this electronic control unit,

we're not getting that same
signal to activate the rear wing.

I am now a little bit confused, a
little bit stumped, I've got to be honest.

And one of the best places to go
when you find yourself in this position

are the owner's clubs for
cars like this or the forums.

So that's what I'm going to do next.

I've got my fingers
crossed somebody out

there has found a
simple fix to this problem.

Otherwise we could be
looking at forking out money

we can't afford to on an
expensive spoiler system.

We've got hold of one of
my teenage dream cars,

a Volkswagen Corrado to celebrate the
brilliance behind its G-Lada supercharger.

Its automatic spoiler has an electronic
issue which has got me stumped,

but I might have just found the solution.

You've got to love the forums.

It turns out that this
car, as well as sending

a 55mph signal to
activate the rear wing,

also sends that same signal to
the back of the original car stereo

to turn the volume up when
you hit that same speed.

Now that's because it got noisy, it got
windy when you put the rear wing up,

that increased drag and
things became even noisier.

So it's a clever idea.

Now the forums have
told me what people do a

lot of the time is fit
aftermarket stereos,

just like we've got here.

And commonly when those stereos turn
up they have a little blue and white wire

hanging out the back of it and that's
there to connect to cars that have.

automatic or motorized
antennas on the back.

Now we don't have one of those, we've
got an old school one up on the roof.

But guess what colour the little signal
wire is that sends that signal to the old

original radio at 55mph
to turn the volume up.

It's blue and white isn't it?

So what I'm thinking is that someone
has joined these two wires together

and that's what's stopping the 55mph signal
from the speedo reaching the control box.

That's the blue and white wire, that's
the one that is for the motorized antenna

and look at that it is connected to another
blue and white wire coming out of the loon

which I would almost bet
is the one we're looking for.

Now if I just pull that out of the
connector and disconnect it for now,

that will stop our 55mph
signal wire from being confused

and in turn our box now
gets the correct signal.

It activates those relays and it should
at that magic speed open the rear wing.

If this works I owe some random stranger
on the forum a very, very big cuddle.

Okay let's give it a go.

Oh your little beauty.

Oh that's been one of the most frustrating
and yet one of the most satisfying jobs

I've ever done. I love it.
This wonderful car now has some of its most

wonderful original features back.
That is brilliant.

The spoiler fix brings
us one step closer to

taking our Corrado
back to its factory best.

The next mod I want
to delete is one which

will totally transform
the car's entire stance.

This car would have rolled off
the production line back in 1992

looking amazing in this aqua blue
paint cruising along at that perfect stance

based on thousands of
hours of Volkswagen's R&D

to make this their first
full-blooded sports car.

And then somewhere
in this car's history an

owner came along who
decided that that suspension

designed to give the
perfect ride stance and

handling as well as
comfort should be changed.

So as the Germans tend
to know best about these

things I'm going to
return it to standard.

I'm starting by removing the two bolts
that hold the heavily corroded aftermarket

struts to the hub assembly. Then dropping
the car down to get at the rest of them.

With the two bolts at the bottom
mounting onto the upright undone that

just leaves this one at the top
before I can get the strut out.

And this is our replacement.
It's a good refurbished original strut

as opposed to a cheap aftermarket one
if I put it next to each other like that.

Although this one is
adjustable you can clearly

see that we've immediately
addressed our ride

height issue with the
new unit but there's

other differences as
well aren't there. Look

at this it's a much
smaller narrow diameter

and tightly wound stiff
spring on the old unit

as opposed to this much
bigger and softer spring

that's going to give us
that more comfortable.

ride. I can demonstrate
roughly how that works.

I'll move these over
with this steel rule here.

Now this one is narrow
the distance between the

damper in the middle
and the edge of the spring

is not very big and I
can represent that with

this short distance of
the rule hanging over the.

edge of the bench. It's very stiff the
springing effect is very stiff and that's.

going to give you
that very stiff ride. With

the new one the bigger
diameter spring if we

represent that with a
much larger distance away

from that damper in the
middle you get a much

softer springing effect
and more comfortable

ride which should address
all of those problems

that Mike was talking
about. On top of that the fact

that it's original should
add value to the car too.

This type of strut is called
a McPherson. They're

popular for front
suspension because they're

lightweight offer a nice
comfortable ride and

allow each wheel to
operate independently for

better handling. They did
set us back 320 pounds

but that's going to be
worth every penny when

we come up against a
bumpy bit of tarmac. Right

there we go this car is
going to look so much

better now sitting at
its correct ride height.

I've done one got three
more to go and then

I'm waiting for Mike
to come back from his

shopping trip hopefully
with a big box of bits.

Hello Pete how you doing
look I've been shopping.

Oh you have been busy. I
have been busy yeah this

is just some of the stuff
I've got a set of wheels

so I've got seats I've
got the other fog lights

got a steering wheel
got gear knob look at that.

unobtainium even got
ourselves an unmolested

parcel shelf. That has
got to be rare and all

of that must have cost
a few quid. Well I got

it all from Lee and
you know what he's like

he's always willing to
do a deal so anything

we're taking off the
car I've got to take it

back to him and he's
going to sort out a really

fair price I don't think
it'd be that expensive.

He's a proper Wheeler
dealer isn't he. He is

a proper Wheeler
dealer how you getting on.

Good I've just fitted the
stock suspension back

on the car so it now
should sit at its correct

ride height and ride
along the road nicely.

Supercharger's had a
full service so that's good

to go as well it's in really good condition
actually. Oh nice one mate so we're well on

our way of getting this
car back to the stock

car that the market
wants all by the engine

because it's got some
really good improvements

on that which has got
me thinking about where

we're going to take the
car for a proper drive.

I mean it's a rare
car isn't it especially

in that condition so we
should go somewhere

properly special with
it. Well I've had a little

thought bubble because
the G Lada as you know

was invented to cope with altitude and I
know how much you like a pub lunch so I was

thinking what about
we take it to the highest

pub in England. What
a great idea. It's great

idea isn't it. Fantastic
well let's get the

bits out the car I'll get them bolted
to it and get on there. Yeah nice one.

Mike's done a great
job sourcing all of these

original parts now
I've just got to fit them.

First up the re-trimmed
seats which just bolt into place.

Then I can say it gives me great pleasure
to return that gear knob to standard.

Right last job for the interior is to
fit this original G60 steering wheel.

It's a simple 24 millimeter
bolt-on job no airbags here.

Then connect up the
horn and it's all good to go.

There we go job done.
Now it's time to sort out the fog lights.

Now the car came
without any fog lights but

Mike has managed to
find me a set of original.

replacements from Lee.
They're relatively easy

to fit but the tricky
bit is getting this long

wire all the way up
behind the headlight and

into the position where
it needs to be connected.

So what I've done
as a little trick is to tie

a piece of substantial
wire in there already,

thread it down behind
that headlight and all I

need to do is hook
that onto the wiring itself,

wrap it round and that should enable
me to pull that through from the top.

and gently tease it into the
position where I need it to be.

These fog lights of
course are not just here

to complete that G60
look, they're also an

important safety feature.
They are always mounted

below the main
headlight and have a really

intense but flat beam
that penetrates underneath

the fog to give you visibility on those
difficult days. You can buy aftermarket ones

but there's a risk they
won't be designed for.

your specific bumper and then you could
find yourself with the wrong angle beam.

giving you poor visibility. So I highly
recommend sticking with originals.

There we go, this car is now looking
the way it always should have done.

I love it, I'm pretty sure Mike will too.

We've bought ourselves a
supercharged VW Corrado

which was modded to
high heaven or maybe high

hell. I've finally returned
everything back to

factory standard and
replaced the wheels so it's

back at the correct
ride height. Now it's time

to show Mike. Oh mate
look at that, break out

the shell suit, hey that
looks showroom fresh

from the 1990s. Look
at the wheels, doesn't it

look good? It's come up
so well hasn't it? Everything

now on the outside looks
like a Corrado did back in

the day which is so
rare nowadays isn't it? It's

exactly what the market
wants but we still got

that fantastically upgraded
engine haven't we?

We have, I mean it's
almost like the perfect car.

isn't it? It's wonderful,
look at that interior.

Yeah clean, original
steering wheel, it's great.

I can't wait to get in
it. Last time I drove it

nearly knocked my
fillings out, it was so low

to the ground but now
it's sitting at the right

height I did promise
you a pub lunch at height.

We did. Shall we go?
I'm hungry mate, yeah. Lovely.

When I bought it our Corrado
was covered in boy racer mods.

Aftermarket steering wheel, what
do you think of that gear knob?

Hideous. But luckily the awesome
G-Lada supercharger was in great Nick.

Well I've got good
news, in fact I've got great

news, our supercharger
is in great condition.

I used my contacts to
source all the original

parts we needed to
take it back to stock.

That's the right one
for the car. Lovely. And

Elvis took great
pleasure in fitting them.

This car is going to look so much better
now sitting at its correct ride height.

Now we're both proud to have taken
this 90's sports car back to the way,

it would have rolled
out the VW factory.

But how much has the
transformation cost us?

I bought the car for £6,750.
The supercharger service kit was £2.50.

The replacement parts from Lee came in
at £1,600 but selling some of the parts we

ripped off back to him
reduced the bill to £700.

The seat trim repair
came to £150 and the new

suspension was £320 which means our Corrado
comes in at a grand total of £8,170. And

doesn't it look the better for it?
Now we've got the car looking apart,

I can't wait to see what
that supercharger can

do out on the wider roads
of the Yorkshire Dales.

Oh mate, this is so good.
These roads are just epic, aren't they?

Fantastic. And this is where you're going
to feel it. So down here in this down,

look at that! How cool is this? This
suspension is just so much more compliant now.

I'm going to punch it as we come
out of this corner up that hill. Punch.

Oh my goodness me!

That is Rapido, isn't it?

That is an immense
amount of torque, isn't it?

Oh it's such a good feeling, you know, to
have that much just under your right foot.

Right when you want
it as well, when you're

pulling out of a corner
or pulling away from

traffic lights, you know,
standing stop, that's

when a supercharger
really comes into its own.

Well you can feel, as you say, it's
instantaneous, isn't it, under your right foot.

You haven't got to wait for that turbo lag.

Exactly, yeah.

It's absolutely brilliant, isn't it?

Wow, wow! That has got some torque and
power, hasn't it? And did I just notice,

in my peripheral vision, a
little spoiler pop up there.

It has, it's popped up, look at that.

So now that brilliant little piece
of design actually works again.

It's fantastic. And you're right about the
suspension, this car is now sitting at the

right height, on the
right tyres, on the right

wheels, and it just
feels perfect, doesn't it?

You can feel that we're getting much higher
now, and it's getting a little bit misty.

We are literally heading into the
clouds, so let's stick some fog lights on.

Oh yes, of course, our new fog lights.
There we go.

Nice one.

It's almost like this road was put in place
for today. It's just perfect, isn't it?

You know, we've got that G-Lada, the
supercharger, we're heading up to 1,782 foot,

which is the Tan Lwin,
which is the highest pub

in Britain, so we need
that extra power to get us

up to the pub. We're hopefully going to
be meeting, I'm going to tell you as well,

I've asked for a load of G-Ladas,
cars like this, to come along,

and potentially somebody
who's interested in

our car. And I'm going
to be honest with you,

Elvis, the way this car looks, the way
it performs in this environment as well,

who's not going to buy it?

Exactly. And the other thing
I'm really excited about, of course,

that pub lunch.

I didn't promise you a pub lunch.

Back in the 80s and 90s,
the G-Lada supercharger

was used by VW in
everything from the Polo

to the Golf. We've got a great range
of these classics for our meet today,

and our G60 sits perfectly amongst them.
Time to look at some of its cousins.

Now when was the
last time you see one of

these, the G40? Hello
mate, what's your name?

Hi, my name's Garode.

Garode, nice to meet you, I'm Mike.

Hi Mike.

Hi Garode, Elvis.

Hi Elvis, nice to meet you.

What a car, a G40, they are incredibly
rare, you don't see many on the street.

How did you end up with one?

I bought this 22 years
ago, yes, I have a long time.

Goodness.

So is it for you, the Volkswagen badge,
or is it the fact that it's a supercharger?

What was the thing that got you?

It was the supercharger on this one.
I'd seen one in a magazine years ago,

and I just wanted to have one, so then I
went looking and I actually found this one.

local in my hometown.

Thank you so much for
bringing the car down, it's been so

nice to see it, it's such a
rarity, it's a pleasure for us.

Thank you very much.

Mate, listen, there is
somebody over there, I think this

could be my man Loz, who's
come down to see the G60.

I'll leave you to look round some cars,
let's see if I can put a deal together.

Nice one.

You must be Loz.

Hi Mike, how are you doing?

Very nice to see you.

Nice to see you too.

Thank you for coming
out on this chilly, misty day.

What do you think?

I think it's lovely, it's a great
looking car, absolutely great.

Well, we have put our heart
and soul into getting this

car back to where it
should be, looking like this.

I've got to ask the question
though, why do you want a G60?

We had one about 20 years ago,

and then got too difficult with
the kids getting in and out again.

My wife Kate and I have
always wanted to get another one,

she's just retired after nearly


and she wants to spend some of
her pension on another G60 Corrado.

Get in.

I like that, it's a solid investment.

Well listen mate, I'll tell you what,
why don't you take it for a drive,

because there's a few cars here I want
to look at, so go and take it up the road.

Can't wait.

Yeah, enjoy it.

As anyone can tell you, a test drive is
a great way to sell someone on a car.

Loz already sounds keen.

Oh hey.

Beauty.

And I reckon once he's felt that
supercharger under his right foot,

he'll be desperate to do a deal.

While he's out enjoying
himself, I want to check

out that Golf Rally I
spotted when I arrived.

That like, this is Wally.

Wally, nice to meet you mate, I'm Mike.

Hi mate, nice to meet you.

When I walked into the car park earlier,

this is the car that caught my attention,

this is the one that I would go home with.

Is this your heart and
soul going into this?

Yeah, more or less.

I got the car when I left the army,

and it was either going
to be this or an E30 M3,

but because of the rarity
of the rally, I went for this.

It was completely standard when I got it,

and over the years,
myself and the guys at

the firm have built
this and turned this out.

Can I just ask, when you were
deciding between this or the M3,

was it anything to do with that, the
supercharger that swung you this way?

Supercharged, four-wheel
drive, all day long.

Good decision.

It's such a rare treat to see
cars like this turned out like this.

I mean, this is an exceptional
example, so we really appreciate it.

Cheers.

Pleasure, mate.

Thanks very much.

Good to see you.

And you, cheers.

And speaking of rare,
I've just clocked a Mark

II Golf, which I've
got to take a look at.

I think we're standing in front of
some kind of Volkswagen royalty here.

This is a really, really
special and rare car, isn't it?

Yeah, it's probably the rarest
car Volkswagen ever made.

It's the only model that VW did with
the 16-valve version of the G60 engine.

So, 210 brake horsepower stock, synchro
four-wheel drive, five-wheel body shell,

and completely unique model.

There's no other configuration
of this that Volkswagen made.

Now, I would imagine that
most of these are owned by

VW all over the world, if
not by the directors of VW.

How did you come by this one?

I picked it up from a
VW independent in Louth,

found it by chance,
and lucky find, really.

I've got to ask, how
much did you pay for it?

And got any idea what it's worth now?

I paid 12,000 for it.

It's worth 12 and a half grand today.

I've got 12 and a half
grand for it right now.

No, you're okay.

Thanks, mate.

Yeah, there's a lot of money
back then from Mark II Golf,

but now you can choose your price,
really, because they are that rare.

Listen, my customer's back.

Elvis, I'll leave you with him.

Yeah, yeah.

All right.

Nice.

Wow.

I was hoping I'd get
that reaction from you.

Oh, my God.

That is super quick.

Love it.

It is a proper quick car, isn't it?

I'm so pleased I got
that reaction from you.

That is fantastic.

Really good.

So, as you know, Loz, we
put our art and soul into it.

I think we've got the right car
sitting amongst the right cars here.

This is exactly what the market's after.

I was hoping in amongst this
company, I'd easily get 10 grand for it.

What do you think?

I think it's a lovely car.

I'm happily paying nine
and a half grand today.

Nine and a half grand.

You're thinking of your wife's pension.

I am.

I can see that.

You have.

Well, listen, she's been working
hard for the NHS all those years.

You deserve a bit off.

Let's let you have it for 9,800 pounds.



Come on, meet me in the middle.



I'll meet you in the middle.

I'll bet you're around.

You've got yourself a cracking deal there.

Well done, Loz.

Thank you.

Well done.

What a great car.

Brilliant car, I'm pleased.

Thank you.

Now, when I found this Corrado G60,
it was a little bit of a modified mess.

But after all the hard work
that both me and Elvis have

put into it, well, we've
turned it into a purest dream.

This lot, they love it.

But more importantly, Loz did.

And he's returned us a
nice little decent profit.

If you want to see more iconic cars like
this being turned around by me and Elvis,

then join us again soon
on Wheel of Dealers.

Ta-ta.